Jamz3k

could someone check this link out for me and tell me if they are worth buying? Need new front Discs and these seem good value compared to others for sale.
Alfa Romeo 147 1.6 TS 16v 120 Front Drilled Brake Discs on eBay (end time 24-Oct-09 15:27:47 BST)

As my car is a 1.6 120bhp Alfa Romeo 147 will i notice a difference going for drilled and grooved discs? I drive the car hard and can feel the limitations of the current brake discs and pads (pads bought when i was off work so cheapest of the cheap). I was looking to pair these discs up with Ferrado DS2500 pads. So whats your thoughts?

The Zohan

In my experience they will make more noise and you will feel them more through the pedal with all those holes/dimples and grooves. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the EBC pads and dimpled/grooved disks i had fitted to my scoob. no better braking, in fact possibly worse and noisey to boot.

Do not recognise the make, i would go for a known/trusted brand (not ebc) and use decent pads or just upgrade the pads (leave the disks) and see what difference this makes.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

I'm not an expert on this topic, but have played around with different discs and pads on a couple of cars. Basically you need to determine what you want to achieve. There is a difference between brake power and brake fade.

Better discs and pads that are of the same size can help with brake fade, but will not help with braking power. If you need more braking force, before any overheating is taken into account, then you need bigger brakes. Trying to get more power out of standard sized brakes does not normally end well (imo).

If you find that your current setup is fading after hard use then a better pad will help. Better pads can cope with more heat before they fade. To do this they tend to be harder and can therefore wear through your discs more quickly. Heat cycled discs are therefore advisable before using really hard pads. There are hard pads on the market that work from stone cold to serious temperature (long after your brake seals have melted).

Drilled discs did not seem to help me for power, and may have reduced fade a little. But they were a little noisier, and looked awful when the holes rust (as the pads never clean the holes). Some will also tell you they are more prone to cracking, and can shatter while in use if the cracks are sufficiently substantial. Personally mine did not crack, but the harder you use them the more likely it is that this will occur.

Grooved discs are noisier and you can get a bit of vibration through the pedal. Depends on the disc, some have more grooves and in different patterns than others. Grooves tend to clean the pad if its get glazed, but again generally only help with fade.

Lastly make sure you are using good brake fluid.

I did have some issue with brake fade on my Impreza. After trying a few things the issue was solved using std discs, mid range performance pad, good fluid, freeing up a partially seized calliper, and altering the brake balance to make the rear discs work harder. The brake balance change was nice, as the car is less prone to dive, and the rear discs no longer rust up because they are being used more. Your car will be different of course

EDIT: as your Alfa is not the highest spec model you may want to look into seeing if you can get larger std brakes from a bigger engined car to fit. A common upgrade for the 106GTi was to fit 306GTi brakes. They dropped straight on, came from the main dealer, and no matter how hard you drove, or how badly, you could not overheat them You did of course have to change callipers, so not as cheap as just discs and pads.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Jamie, I would suggest getting some standard discs and mating them with some decent pads.

When I recently did the front brakes on the 205, I went froma 283mm big brake kit which had drilled/grooved discs and Greenstuff pads. They lasted 18000 miles, thats it And I don't drive hard

So after some advice I got me some standard discs for £23 from a motor factors and bought some Black Diamond Predator pads for £30. Can hardly tell the difference in all fairness. Infact the only difference I can think of is the initial bite. With the big brake kit it bit straight away so brakes were on or off. With the current standard 247mm set up, its a bit more progressive which suits me fine for spirited driving or pootling around.

Got my **** from Performance Car Parts / EBC Brakes / Eibach Lowering Springs / Koni Suspension Kits / Magnex Exhausts / Powertec Induction Kits - Euro Performance

Alfa Romeo 147 / Front Brake Pads / Euro Performance Car Parts

Jamz3k

Excellent stuff guys, thanks for all the advice. I think i'll have to do a bit of thinking on what would be the best options as i don't really want unwanted noise etc as the cars about confort not racing about but just need something that has a little bit more bite.

As for upgrading the brake setup to a higher spec. Alfa, its rediculous money due to everyone one and his dog looking GTA spec. brembo's on Ebay and i just don't think its worth on a car that would find it hard keeping up with a Saxo VTS.

Leslie

Looks a bit expensive too. Don't think you would gain very much unless you use your brakes very hard indeed. The drilling and grooving is only there to allow gases from very hot pads to escape thus stopping the pads being pushed off the discs. You would have to be really hammering it to do that on the road.

Les _